Globalization and peremptory norms in international law: From Westphalian to global constitutionalism?

Constitutionalism in international law is shifting from a Westphalian to a global framework. This shift is driven by globalist social forces who are ideologically committed to neo-liberalism and have an interest in free trade. They have succeeded in making free trade the next peremptory norm in international law after non-aggression, and have pre-empted the emergence of countervailing peremptory norms on Human Rights and environmental imperatives. There is no clear juridical authority to pronounce between calls for justice from a Westphalian frame, and property claims enshrined in global supranational institutions. The emergence of such authority in global constitutionalism, will depend upon both bargaining power and ideological alternative to neo-liberalism. The territorial state is still an important site for mobilizing the necessary bargaining power to reshape global authority.